Bottle positioning means



March 22, 1938.

7 G. J. MEYER BOTTLE POSITIONING MEANS Filed Sept. 28; 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l Q-tmi qiei'illrfaiil ggllbmmii SS T iii? i l-i mmlfilgisii .1: 1

imiiim'ijm ATTORNEY -32 6 a? WITNESSES w W (Z CV/Me March 22, 1938. G ME ER BOTTLE POSITIONING MEANS Filed Sept. 28, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 G. J. MEYER BOTTLE POSITIONING MEANS Filed Sept. 28, 19

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Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES BOTTLE POSITIONING liIEANS George J. Meyer, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Geo. J. Meyer Manufacturing Company, Cuda Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application September 28, 1935, Serial No. 42,627

10 Claims.

The invention relates to bottle cleaning machines and more particularly to means for positioning bottles with respect to cleaning apparatus. In a usual type of bottle cleaning machine,

bottles are carried in a conveyor and while inverted are subjected to various cleaning operations. It has been customary to employ bottle positioning means in the form of bottle center'- ing funnels or cups engageable with the necks H) of the inverted bottles, and to provide brushes and other elements movable through the funnels to enter the bottles thus positioned. With constructions heretofore devised, pieces of glass from chipped or broken bottles, as well as other foreign Iv matter, have lodged and accumulated in the funnels, and have made it necessary to clean the funnels in order to permit safe operation of the machine and to avoid damage to succeedin I bottles. 20 An object of the present invention is to provide bottle positioning means for centering inverted bottles with respect to brushes and other devices, while permitting free escape of glass and other foreign matter from thebottles without lodging 25 or accumulating on such means.

Anotherobject of the invention'is to provide a bottle positioning and brush guiding device which will permit free lateral discharge of glass pieces or other foreign matter. 30 A further object is to provide bottle positioning means wherein an inverted bottle in a conveyor h 40 present invention, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereoftaken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along 45 the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, with parts in raised position;

Fig. 4 is a detail top plan view of some of the bottle-positioning members and their supporting means, parts being shown in section;

50 Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is adetail sectional view taken along the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of a modified 55 form of bottle positioning device;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional elevation of one of the brush guiding bottle positioning devices;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional elevation of the device of Fig. 8 in bottle clamping position, taken along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of a brush-guiding head assembly, one of the heads being shown in section along the line Ill-Ill of Fig. 8, and

Fig. 11 is a bottom view of the cap member of the device of Fig. 8, parts being shown in section. 10

In these drawings, I5 designates the frame of a bottle cleaning machine, the machine being of a well-known general type having an endless articulated bottle conveyor mounted on the frame and moved either continuously or intermittently by 15 any suitable means, not shown. The conveyor comprises side chains l6 connected by rows of bottle pockets I1 and supported by rollers l8 traveling on track members l9, here shown to be T-bars, forming part of the frame IS. The conveyor serves to bring bottles 20 in an inverted position to cleaning apparatus hereinafter described, and similarly serves to bring the bottles to other apparatus, not shown.

Vertical bars 2! at opposite sides of the machine form vertical guideways 22 for mechanisms, hereinafter described, which operate to clamp the bottles from above and below, and to insert rotating fountain cleaning brushes therein while so clamped.

The fountain brush mechanism 23 is of any suitable type and may be similar in construction and operation to that shown in Letters Patent 1,310,128 to George J. Meyer, dated July 15, 1919, and in Letters Patent 1,429,960 to George J. Meyer, dated September 26, 1922. The brush mechanism is here shown to comprise two rows of tubular fountain brush spindles 24 carried on a gear box 25 which also forms a reciprocatory cross-head slidable on the vertical guide bars 2|. The spindles 24 are supplied with water or other cleaning fluid under pressure and carry on their upper ends rotary cleaning brushes 26, as seen 7 in Figs. 3 and 8.

Each guide member 29 is preferably formed of sheet metal bent to the shape of an inverted trough with steeply sloping side walls, the top or roof of the guide member having sloping walls of less steepness converging to a ridge. At their opposite ends the guide members are secured by bolts 30 or other fastening means to pedestals or bracket 9| and 82, and the pedestals are secured by bolts or other fastening elements 33 to cross anglebars 94 and 35, respectively, mounted on the frame of the machine, the angle bars 35 being secured by bolts 36 to brackets 31 fastened to and projecting downwardly from the track barsi9. As seen in Fig. 2, the pedestals 8| are pointed to center the bottle necks as they enter between the guide members, the side walls of the guide members 29 confining the bottle necks in narrow paths of movement. At the region of the brushing station the spaces between the guide members. may be widened slightly at 38 to provide additional clearance for operating parts. The outer guide members may be provided with notches 99 toaiford clearance for other parts of the mechanism.

The conveyor may be of a simplified type with straight partitions 11' between the bottle pockets, as these partitions are not required to align the bottle necks, the aligning function being performed by the stationary guide members.

A reciprocatory cross-head 40 extends transversely of the machine below the inverted bottles and comprises spaced parallel channel bars 4! bolted or otherwise attached to end frames 42 which are slidably mounted-on the vertical guide bars 2i, the cross-head being operated by any suitable linkage 43, parts of which are shown. The linkage may be similar to that shown in the above letters patent. Frame members 44, one below each file of bottles, extend between the channel bars 4! and have end flanges 45 secured to the top flanges of the channel bars 4| by bolts 46. Each frame member 44 has a pair of upstanding rectangular housing portions 41 which open upwardly and each of which has a central vertical bore 48 at its lower end. A brush tube 49 is slidable in each bore 48 and is screw-threaded at its upper end into a funnel-forming cap member 58 having a skirt of rectangular crosssection telescopically fitting over the housing portion 41. The brush tube may be provided with flats at opposite sides adjacent the side walls of the housing portion 41, as seen in Figs. 18 and II. A bushing 52 is pressed into the upper end of the brush tube and has a, fiat top flange 53 which forms a seat for a bottle neck and which is let into a short bore 54 formed in the cap member 58, as seen in Fig. 8. The bore in the bushing 52 is here indicated to be slightly smaller at its upper end than the bore in the brush tube, and has a tapered portion to avoid a shoulder between the bores. The cap member 58 has opposite upwardly projecting prongs or arms with downwardly converging walls 55 which are preferably transversely concave to present a conical funnel-like surface fon' engaging a bottle neck and centering it into the bore 54, this bore being slightly larger than the head of the bottle. The upper portion of the cap member is open at opposite sides down'to the bushing flange 53, as seen in Figs. 8 and 9, so that any pieces of glass or other foreign matter will not collect in the cap member but will be free to discharge from the open sides of the cap member. The cap member is slightly wider than the diameter of the bottle neck, and is slightly narrower than the space between the guide members 29, so as to be capable of entrance between the guide members, as indicated in Fig. 9. The cap member 58 is urged upwardly with respect to the housing portion 41 by a pair of coiled springs 56, Fig. 8, at the front and rear of the brush tube, surrounding vertical guide tubes 51 which are slidable in openings 58 formed in the lower part of the frame member 44. At their upper ends the guide tubes 51 fit over cruciform projections 59 formed on the cap member 50, and are outwardly flanged to form seats for the springs. The upward movement of the cap member with respect to the frame member 44 is limited by a nut 68 on the threaded lower end of the brush tube 49. The upper edge of the housing portion 41 is suitably notched and slotted to provide clearance for the cap member 50 during the telescoping movement, the upper portion of the cap member being preferably internally ribbed. The brush spindles 24 are movable through the brush tubes 49, and when the brushes 26 are retracted downwardly they are housed within these tubes, as seen in Fig. 8. The housing portion 44 and connected spring-pressed cap form a bottle engaging head. By placing the coiled springs to the front and rear of the brush tube, the width of the slidable cap can be kept relatively small, while at the same time avoiding binding of the cap and tube.

In addition to the bottle positioning means above described, the cross-head 40 carries other bottle positioning means as well as bottle-rinsing means. Two or more bar brackets 6| are secured to the cross-head 49 between adjacent frame members 44, as by bolts 82, the brackets extending longitudinally of the machine. Pairs of channel bars 69 extend transversely of the bar brackets 61 to register with the transverse rows of bottle pockets, and each pair of the channel bars are supported in spaced parallel back-toback relation by interposed connectors 64 which are secured by bolts 65 to the bar brackets, each connector being secured to the pair of channel bars by a pair of bolts 66. The connectors take various forms as hereinafter described. By way of illustration, five pairs of channel bars 63 are provided, three pairs in advance of the brush spindles 24 and two pairs following the brush spindles. Each pair of channel bars 69 carries thereon a number of pairs of opposed upstanding funnel-forming prongs or arms 61, there being a pair of prongs for each file of bottles. The prongs are preferably formed integral with the channel bars and present lowerparailel vertical faces 68, to receive and confine a bottle neck between them, as seen in Fig. 5. The upper portions of each pair of prongs 61 have converging concave faces 69 which are preferably transversely concave to present a conical funnel-like surface for engaging a bottle neck and centering it between the vertical faces 69 of the prongs.

In the modified form of the bottle centering device shown in Fig. '7, the prongs 61 are similar to the prongs 61 but the vertical faces 68 thereof are provided with shoulders or ledges for lifting the bottle 28 in the bottle pocket l1 as the prongs rise.

At the right-hand bottle centering device shown in Fig. 1, the bottle positioned thereby is lifted and rotated by a reciprocatory lifter spindle 1| between rotary brushes 12 and against a bottom brush 13 for cleaning the outside and bottom of the bottle, the other bottles in this transverse row also being lifted by similar spindles. The spindles 11 are carried on a reciprocatory cross- -head ll slidably mounted on suitable vertical guides 15 and operated by suitable linkage 18, part of which is shown. The bar brackets 6| are preferably slotted at H, as seen in Fig. 4. to permit adjustment of the bottle centering devices for the row of bottles'to be lifted by the spindles H.

At the next two sets of bottle centering funnels, the bottles are subjected to rinsing jets from horizontal spray pipes I8 provided with jet openings 19. The spray pipes are supported from the connectors 84, some of which have apertured lugs 80 receiving the pipes therethrough and provided with set screws 8|, and others of which are formed integrally. with a manifold 82 into which the pipes are screwed, the manifold being supplied with water or other cleaning fluid through a hose 83.

At the final two sets of bottle centering devices, the bottles are subjected to rinsing jets from vertical rinsing tubes 84 which enter the bottles and which are carried on arms 85 secured to the reciprocatory cross-head 25.

In operation, the conveyor moves from right to left, as indicated in Fig. 1, and places the necks of the inverted bottles between the guide members 29, the side walls of the guide members confining each file of bottle necks in a narrow path of movement irrespective of variations in the lengths of the bottles. In the case of a continuously moving conveyor the bottle clamping and brushing mechanism reciprocates horizontallyto follow the bottles, as exemplified in the above Letters Patent 1,310,128, the guide bars 2| and I5 and outside brushes I2 and I3 reciprocating horizontally as a unit; while in the case of an intermittently moving conveyor, this mechanism operates on the bottles while the conveyor is stationary, as exemplified in the above Letters Patent 1,429,960. In each cycle of operation, the cross-head 40 is raised to bring the bottle positioning means thereof between the guide members 28, and the brushing mechanism 23 and lifter spindles II are also raised to maintain for a time the same relative positions of these parts. The various bottle positioning devices engage the necks of the bottles to center them in a fore-and-aft direction, the brushguiding heads also lifting the centered bottles thereon into engagement with the-top clamping gauges 28 which preferably descenda short distance into engagement with the bottles, although in some cases the gauges may remain at a fixed elevation. The brush-guiding heads clamp the bottles under spring pressure, the telescoping construction of these heads accommodating bottles of different length. At the first transverse row of bottlepositioning devices, the spindles H enter the centered bottles and lift them between the rotary brushes l2 and against the brushes 13 for outside and bottom cleaning. At the next two transverse rows of bottles, the centered bottles are subjected to inside rinsing sprays from the spray pipes 18. The lifted and clamped bottles in the next two transverse rows are subjected to inside brushing operations by the rotary brushes 26 which rise from the brush tubes and enter the bottles. The bottles in the last two transverse rows are subjected to inside rinsing jets from the rinsing tubes- 84 which rise into the bottles. After the brushing and rinsing operations, the lifter spindles H, the brush spindles 24, the rinser tubes 84, and the various bottle centering devices descend from the bottles, and the cycle of operation is repeated after the bottle conveyor advances. When the bottle centering and clamping caps 58'descend, any pieces of glass or other foreign matter are discharged laterally from the open sides of these caps, thus obviating the necessity for manual cleaning of the caps and avoiding unnecessary stopping of the machine, as well as insuring the safe operation of the machine. At the other bottle centering devices, any pieces of glass or other foreign matter are free to fall out of the bottles without accumulating on the bottle engaging surfaces.

What Icla'im as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bottle cleaning machine having a bot-- tle conveyor in which bottles are carried in inverted position in transversely extending rows, the combination of a pair of spaced parallel bars extending transversely below the conveyor and movable toward and away from said conveyor, said bars being fixed relative to each other, and pairs of spaced upstanding prongs carried on said bars, the prongs in each pair being carried on the respective bars, each pair of prongs having downwardly converging walls to position a bottle neck between said prongs when said bars are moved upwardly toward the conveyor. 7

2. Bottle positioning means for a bottle cleaning machine of the type having a conveyor for an inverted bottle, comprising a support movable toward and away from the bottle and having a housing portion, a cap telescopically fitting over said housing portion and having a seat engageable with the bottle neck, said cap having opposed downwardly converging surfaces for centering the bottle neck on said seat and being open at opposite sides to permit free escape of glass pieces or other foreign matter from said seat, a tube secured to and projecting downwardly from said cap and slidable in said housing portion, and a pair of coiled springs within said housing portion in front of and behind said tube for urging said cap upwardly with respect to said housing portion.

3. In a bottle cleaning machine, the combination, with a conveyor having means for holding a bottle in inverted position, of spaced parallel approximately horizontal guide members between which the bottle neck travels with the bottle axis transverse to said members, each guide member being of inverted trough shape and the adjacent side walls of the spaced guide members converging downwardly and confining the bottle neck between them in a narrow path of travel, the upper portions of said side walls forming sloping roofs for the guide members.

4. In a bottle cleaning machine having a conveyor for holding a bottle in inverted position, a frame below the conveyor movable toward and away from the bottle, a bottle-positioning brushguiding member carried by said frame and having open sides to permit free escape of glass pieces and other foreign matter, a bar secured to said frame and extending longitudinally of the machine, and a pair of spaced bars secured transversely to said longitudinal bar and having upstanding downwardly converging bottle positioning prongs.

5. In a bottle cleaning machine having a bottle conveyor in which bottles are carried ininverted position in transversely extending rows,the combination of a frame below the conveyor movable toward and'away from the bottles, a pair of spaced parallel bars extending transversely below the conveyor, a connector interposed between said bars and offset from a plane of bottle travel, means for securing-said connector to said frame, and pairs of spaced upstanding prongs carried on said bars, the prongs ineach pair being carried on the respective bars, each pair of prongs having downwardly converging walls to pairs of spaced upstanding prongs carried on said bars, the prongs in each pair being carried on the respective bars, each pair of prongs having downwardly converging walls to position a bottle neck between the prongs when said frame is moved upwardly toward the conveyor, and a spray pipe carried by said connector for rinsing the interiors of the bottlespositioned by said prongs.

'7. Bottle positioning means for a bottle cleaning machine of the type having a conveyor for an inverted bottle which is lifted during the cleaning operation, comprising spaced guides for positioning the bottle neck in a lateral direction, and a support movable toward. and away from the inverted bottle and said guides and having a pair of spaced opposed projections relatively fixed with respect to each other and engageable with the bottle neck at the front and rear of the bottle for positioning the bottle neck between them when the projections are moved upwardly to the bottle, the space between said pair of opposed projections being open and unobstructed at both sides to permit free escape of glass and other foreign matter, and said projections when moved upwardly entering between said spaced guides.

8. Bottle positioning means for a bottle cleaning machine of the type having a conveyor for an inverted bottle, comprising spaced guides for positioning the bottle neck in a lateral direction, and a yieldably mounted bottle-lifting support movable toward and away from the inverted bottle and having a pair of spaced opposed projections for positioning the bottle neck between them when the support is moved upwardly to the bottle, the space between said projections being open and unobstructed at both sides to permit free escape of glass pieces and other foreign matter, said projections when moved upwardly entering between said spaced guides.

9. In a bottle cleaning machine having a bottle conveyor in which bottles are carried in inverted position in transversely extending rows.

\ the combination of a pair of spaced parallel bars extending transversely below the conveyor and movable toward and away from the conveyor, said bars being fixed with respect to each other, and pairs of spaced upstanding projections carried on said bars, the projections in each pair being carried on the respective bars, each pair of projections forming a space between them to position a bottle neck therein when said bars are moved upwardly toward the conveyor.

10. Bottle positioning means for a bottle cleaning machine of the type having a conveyor for an inverted bottle, comprising a support movable toward and away from the bottle, a brush tube slidable in said support and having a bottle neck seat at its upper portion, a pair of opposed, downwardly converging bottle centering projections at the upper end of said tube, the space between said projections being open at the sides to permit free escape of glass or other foreign matter from said seat, and a pair of coiled springs to the front and rear of said tube for urging said tube upwardly with respect to said support.

GEORGE J. MEYER. 

